April 3, 2004
Notre Dame, Ind. – Notre Dame hockey team captain Aaron Gill (Sr., Rochester, Minn.) signed an amateur tryout contract with the American Hockey League’s (AHL) Cleveland Barons, the top affiliate of the NHL’s San Jose Sharks. Gill was in the lineup on Friday night when Cleveland played in Toronto versus the Toronto Roadrunners, the top affiliate of the Edmonton Oilers.
The Rochester, Minn., native wasted little time getting on the scoresheet versus Toronto as he scored his first professional goal just 2:30 into the first period to stake Cleveland to a 2-0 lead on the way to a 3-1 road victory. Cleveland closes its current road trip on Saturday at Hamilton, Ontario.
For the Irish, Gill finished the season with career highs in goals (17), assists (21), points (38) and power-play goals (9) as he finished second on the team in scoring to Rob Globke (Sr., West Bloomfield, Mich.). A second team CCHA all-star, Gill played in 153 games in his Notre Dame career, the third-highest total for any Irish hockey player. He closed his career with 49 goals and 62 assists for 111 points, good for a tie for 34th on Notre Dame’s all-time scoring list.
He becomes the fourth Irish senior to sign a pro contract this week joining Tom Galvin (Miller Place, N.Y.) who signed with the Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies of the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL), Neil Komadoski (Chesterfield, Mo.) who signed with the Ottawa Senators and Brett Lebda (Buffalo Grove, Ill.) who signed with the Detroit Red Wings.
Those three joined Gill in playing their first pro games on Friday night. Galvin scored his first pro goal in helping Atlantic City to a 7-0 win over Toledo. Komadoski played for Ottawa’s AHL affiliate, Binghamton, as they defeated the Norfolk Admirals, 3-1, where he picked up two penalty minutes. Lebda got his first taste of pro action for Detroit’s AHL team in Grand Rapids as the Griffins dropped a 3-0 decision to the Chicago Wolves.